Phedippidations

The Podcasts

The next episode of Phedippidations is a celebration of this podcast and the community of which it is a part...we’re celebrating not because of anything I've ever recorded, presented or produced...but because you stepped up and said you would participate...that you’d jam some ear buds in your head and at least go for a run with me....whether you've been listening since episode one or if this is your first; the honor to run with you is mine.

Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs are a class of medicine used to reduce fever and treat acute or chronic conditions where pain and inflammation are present. They are used, generally for the relief of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthropathies, gout, menstrual pain, headaches, post operative pain, and fever.

BUT…NSAID’s are effective for the relief of pain…as runners we know this. As runners many or most of us rely on ibuprofen or naproxen sodium to recover from injuries. So what does science tell us about the efficacy of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs?

How are we to deal with the problem with NSAID’s?

Links:

http://fellrnr.com

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/NSAIDs_and_Running

http://www.monteladner.com

The song “The Day” was by Moby http://www.moby.com/

Presenting Mr. Robin Bearse: http://neilbearse.com

ONLY IF YOU LIKE IT: Phedippidations is supported every month through the very kind and sincerely generous financial support of 42 fellow runners:

Love, is a many splendored thing, it’s all that matters, it’s all around, it moves in mysterious ways, it’s the answer, it makes no promises, it’s blind, you can’t buy it, it’s not for sale, it takes it toll, you can’t hurry it, it’s not a game, it’s a battlefield, it will keep us together, you can’t help falling in it, it doesn’t ask why, it hurts, and: “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that”.

Whatever “that” is.

As runners, we say that we “love to run”, as husbands, wives and partners we most certainly love our significant others, we love people, friends, family, parents, children, all creatures great and small, and we love things…our magical revolutionary iThings, good wine, our running shoes, our town, our little blue bubble in space…and of course, we love more ethereal things such as situations and experiences.

But what is this thing called love? When the alien robot overlords invade our planet, and they ask about this emotional connection we have to people, things and experiences…what will we tell them?

Links:

October 27th and 28th: Join us for the http://worldwidefestivalofraces.wordpress.com

The song “Tomorrow” was by Black Lab off their album “Unplugged”. It’s one of my all time favorite albums and I HIGHLY recommend it: Go to http://blacklabworld.com

Please help Kim fight CANCER: http://ogden.kintera.org/kimcowart

“Love gives us a fairy tale”: http://neilbearse.com

ONLY IF YOU LIKE IT: Phedippidations is supported every month through the very kind and sincerely generous financial support of 39 fellow runners:

It’s been almost two years since I produced an episode of this goofy little podcast featuring the thoughts and words of a man I admire a great deal: Dr. George Sheehan. There’s no specific reason for that…episode 258 titled “Dr. George Sheehan: Seeing” was my reading of the final chapter of his book “Running and Being – The Total Experience”, probably his best known work.

Cardiologist, Philosopher, author and record setting marathoner, Dr. George Sheehan was diagnosed, in 1986, with inoperable prostate cancer. By the time it was discovered, it had already spread to his bones. He fought with the disease for seven years, living each day to it’s top. His last book “Going the Distance: One Man’s Journey to the end of his life” was all about the experience of dying from the perspective of a runner…or better put, someone like us who sees value in our life and accepts pain, sweat and exhaustion as a way to live well.

“Going the Distance” was published shortly after his death.

Today I’m going to read for you a chapter from this book titled “Facing the Future”. We seem to talk about death quite a bit on this podcast, which means that at least during your listening of such episodes as Fdip286 “The Rationality of Fear and Road Races”, you and I are exploring the idea of death. I maintain that death is not something that we can rationally fear: and Dr. Sheehen agrees.

You can find a copy of “Going the Distance” on Amazon.com I’ll have the link in the show notes.

I really feel that this chapter is one that you should be listening to when you’re out on the road getting your miles in, if possible. I understand that some of you can’t do that, but if you can…I want to urge you to hold off on listening further until you’re lacing up your shoes and opening up your own squeaky front door.

This is a chapter about pain and the agonizing pursuit of the self. It’s a deeply personal chapter that reveals a lot of the inner philosophy that Dr. Sheehan held dear. He talks about religion, his perception of Christ, and about his life, beyond death, facing the future.

Links:

Join us for the http://worldwidefestivalofraces.wordpress.com

The song “All My Days” was by Alexi Murdoch off the album “Time Without Consequence” http://www.aleximurdoch.com

Happily Ever After: http://neilbearse.com

ONLY IF YOU LIKE IT: Phedippidations is supported every month through the very kind and sincerely generous financial support of 32 fellow runners:

When we contemplate those elements of our origins, personality and physical being…we have to consider our genetic history, the environment in which we were raised and live and, the behavior and stories of those who influenced our lives.

I come from a long line of farmers and fishermen, hard working people who worked the land and sea….growing potatoes, milking cows and living off the natural resources of a picturesque island named after the fourth son of King George the third, the father of Queen Victoria, and the Duke of Kent and Strathearn: Prince Edward.

I am descended from dedicated, persistent laborers with indomitable spirits and everlasting endurance: who cleared rocky fields, sailed rough seas and overcame obstacles that we would consider enormous. They met adversity with acceptance, fortitude and faith.

They were Maritimers from Down East: They lived on a beautiful island between the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of Lawrence. Immigrating to the suburbs of Boston, where they came to work and raise their families.

I am the 6th generation of a family of Scottish Catholic immigrants to the New World.

All that I am, all that I have, all that I trust, believe in and follow are a result of those people who raised me, encouraged me, and gave me the opportunity to succeed.

My parents, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles are my role models because of the way they were raised, and influenced by their parents, grand parents and long past ancestors who came to the new world from the old.

I owe them everything; and in so many ways I live my life in honor of theirs.

Who are you? My guess is that we have a lot in common. As fellow runners you take to the road in honor and celebration of those who made you who you are today. It’s not a genetic thing, it’s an inspirational thing…it’s the stories of the people who lived their lives, overcoming adversity and setting a positive example for all of us.

These are our forerunners, the people who would go on to raise parents who would one day raise us: and we owe them everything.

Links:

The song “Prince Edward Island (Is Heaven to Me)” was performed by Mac Wiseman with words and music by Harold Breau. You can find the tune on iTunes.

Some of the traditional island music heard in this episode was from a live concert in Charlottetown performed by the Chaissons, featuring Tim Chaisson at http://timchaisson.com

This episode celebrates the 7th anniversary of this podcast, the first episode of which was published on Independence Day, July 4th of the year 2005.

As you’d expect, my life is very different today than it was back then, in many ways better, in other ways…different; but I’m not complaining. This is Life 2.0; the world has moved on, and so have we all.

One major point of improvement in my life is the many friends I have been so fortunate to make, as a direct result of this goofy little podcast.

There have been days, sometimes weeks, where I haven’t felt like stepping up to the microphone. There have been days and weeks when I haven’t felt like running. The thing is; with your friendship, kindness and support: I’ve been inspired to run and motivated to podcast…to share with you my thoughts, opinions, observations and yes: even the tidbit details of my life; because when you run together you share something special…and even though this is a digital audio reproduction of my voice, somewhere in the world right now, some of our fellow runners are out on the road, getting their miles in and sharing the experience.

Conversations, Meditations, and Explorations for and about runners.

Phedippidations isn’t dead, but what it was seven years ago is but a ghost of what it has become.

Thank you for running with me this far; but we’re not even half way there, and we have a long…long way to go.

The universe is different for runners, because we have a far more personal relationship with it.

Non-runners can jump on a bike, in a car, on a boat, strap themselves into a plane or a rocket, and discuss the many miles they’ll travel in shorter periods of time: but a runner has to work at it.

A runner has to take her or his own body, with only the fuel pumping through our own blood streams across the distances of miles and many miles…we are creatures who move under our own power across distances that many of our species no longer treks through.

This is kind of a big deal.

I wanted to talk to you about space and time because when you’re out there, on the road, you are running across a beautiful blue planet that every form of life we have ever known about, has ever lived upon. We assume that there is life on other worlds, but we don’t know that for certain.

What we do know for certain is that we have this one life, limited by a short duration, and we can chose to live it without passion, just getting through our days, waiting until it’s eventual end: or we can BURN, we can savor each moment, find joy in small moments every day, and live our lives to the absolute top.

I propose we chose the latter. I say we burn, that we shine as blinding lights for others, making the universe just a little bit better than it was before we got here, and letting our light shine brightly, blindingly on others, inspiring them to live their own lives to the top, not with fear or envy and sadness, but with true joy: joy for having this time, this short, sweet time, to live and love and dance and run and drink it all in like a Grand Crus Bordeaux, because life is too short to drink cheap wine and far too precious to wallow in gloom.

I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. But if this podcast meant anything to you, I hope you’ll think deeply about your place in the universe and the incredibly wonderful opportunity you have, as living, breathing matter; as a part of the universe that has evolved to know itself, and how great it is to be alive.

Burn fellow runners, burn like the stars we are born from, burn like you’ve only got 0.16 seconds of life to live, and burn through the disappointment, pain, suffering, sadness, and exhaustion that you will experience: because this is our time, now…today, and this is the only time you’ll ever get on this side of the mortal coil to be a good animal, to achieve true happiness and to savor the time of your life.

Links:

http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/BB-slide.htm

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/what-is-time/

http://www.eliserd.com

http://nutritionsuccess.org

http://www.irunnerblog.com/category/nutrition-nerd/

Happenings:

June 16th: Liberty Loco –http://arunningskeptic.blogspot.com

July 7th – 8th – The Run For Stone - http://www.runforstone.blogspot.com

SEE NEIL BLOG, BLOG NEIL, BLOG: http://neilbearse.com

ONLY IF YOU LIKE IT: Phedippidations is supported every month through the very kind and sincerely generous financial support of 24 fellow runners:

You’re out on a five mile run, the sun is setting and the stars are beginning to shine. You are traveling a measureable distance across a tiny blue bubble in space that has been in existence for 4.5 billion years within a universe that was created out of nothing 13.7 billion years ago.

It would be easy to feel small.

If you took the time to contemplate your short life and insignificant size…you could easily ask yourself the questions “Why am I here?” “What is the point of my existence?” “Would the Universe miss me if I was suddenly gone”?

The answers will come to you eventually, but when I’ve asked myself those very same questions over the past year: my answers seemed clear to me:

I am here to observe and be observed.

The point and purpose of my existence is to make the universe that I observe better…

and the Universe would not care if I was suddenly gone…but the Universe doesn’t care about anything…unless, of course you’re talking about other people, people who I care about and who care about me…because the fact is that you and I, are a part of the universe.

Links:

The RELATIVE size of planets and stars: http://www.rense.com/general72/size.htm

http://htwins.net/scale2/

Happenings:

June 16th: Liberty Loco –http://arunningskeptic.blogspot.com

July 7th – 8th – The Run For Stone - http://www.runforstone.blogspot.com

Running the Groton Road Race was like running with an old friend I had never actually met, with one friend I had met before and another I’ve known for years through the running community of which I am a part.

This was our pack. Not in the lead, nor all the way at the back…but a pack of three friends running 6.2 miles through a beautiful colonial New England town.

Alett, John and I could have run at our own pace; we could have run with the goal of setting our own PR’s and attacking the course to the very best of our abilities…but for the three of us, good conversation and camaraderie was the goal for the day…and we ran together as friends, fellow runners…and most of all, as a pack.

We should be proud of we are, and act as a positive examples for others: but at the same time remain wary of vanity – because while we are certainly worthy of having pride in our actions and through our running: we’re not all that, and a bag of chips.

This is a story of passion, determination and guts in a marathon road race that is very much like the one you may have, or may one day run. It’s a story that demonstrates the importance of experience, the rage against physical limits and the strength…of youth.

This was Ernest Hemingway, a man who inspired his readers to stand up against facists and bullies, while in many ways he tended to be somewhat of a bully himself. Hemingway lived his life to the fullest, and set an example to everyone who knew him to turn to nature, both on land and sea.

Treadmilling is not a bad thing. But I think everyone listening to me understands that given the choice between running in place for an hour within your home, or at a gym and moving outside, under the sky, within the elements and across the ever-changing terrain of your place: the more significant way to exercise is the one that lets you better experience the world around you.

I was born at exactly 7:48 PM Eastern Standard Time in the maternity ward of Milton Hospital on Reedsdale Road and Highland Street in the town of Milton, Massachusetts on January 19th, 1962.

Turning 50 feels good, because it’s good to be alive. The milestone reminds me to take a walk break in this race, and turn to look behind me to see how far I’ve come. The past 50 years of life included great joy, terrible sadness, and the agony and ecstasy of blood, sweat and tears…but I wouldn’t trade any of it.

Regrets I have, many in fact: but those regrets are all part of a life well lived: a life, lived to its top.